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Leatherheads

  • Genre: Comedy
  • Movie Type: Sports Comedy, Religious Comedy
  • Themes: Football Players
  • Director: George Clooney
  • Main Cast: George Clooney, Renée Zellweger, John Krasinski, Jonathan Pryce, Stephen Root
  • Release Year: 2008
  • Country: US

Plot

Director George Clooney follows up his Oscar-nominated 2005 historical drama Good Night, and Good Luck with this sports-oriented romantic comedy set against the formation of professional football in the 1920s. Previously envisioned as a period sports drama detailing the efforts of an aging football player's attempts to convince a college gridiron star to join a new professional league, Leatherheads was once set to go before the camera as Clooney and frequent collaborator Steven Soderbergh's follow-up to Out of Sight. Later envisioned as a drama that would team screenwriter Jon Favreau with director Jonathan Mostow, Leatherheads eventually went into production with a revamped script by Clooney - who also tackles a lead role in the film. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Cast


Credit

George Clooney - Director; George Clooney - Screenwriter; Grant Heslov - Producer; Louise Frogley - Costume Designer; Christa Munro - Art Director; Tom Sigel - Cinematographer; Edward Tise - Sound/Sound Designer; Ellen Chenoweth - Casting; Stephen Mirrione - Editor; Casey Silver - Producer; Jim Bissell - Production Designer; Barbara Hall - Executive Producer
 
 
Wikipedia: Leatherheads
Leatherheads
Leatherheads_ver2.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by George Clooney
Produced by George Clooney
Barbara A. Hall
Grant Heslov
Casey Silver
Jeffry Silver
Written by George Clooney
Steven Soderbergh
Duncan Brantley
Rick Reilly
Stephen Schiff
Starring George Clooney
John Krasinski
Renée Zellweger
Jonathan Pryce
Stephen Root
Wayne Duvall
Keith Loneker
Malcom Goodwin
Tim Griffin
Robert Baker
Nick Paones
Nick Bourdages
Editing by Stephen Mirrione
Distributed by Universal Studios
Release date(s) April 4, 2008 U.S.

April 11, 2008 U.K.

Country United States
Language English
Budget $58 million
IMDb profile

Leatherheads is a 2008 American film from Universal Pictures directed by and starring George Clooney. The film also stars Renée Zellweger and John Krasinski.

Plot

Clooney plays Dodge Connolly, captain of the struggling football team, the Duluth Bulldogs. Dodge is determined to save both his team and football in general when the players lose their sponsor and the league is on the brink of collapse. He convinces a college football star, Carter "the Bullet" Rutherford, to join the Bulldogs, hoping to capitalize on Carter's fame as a war hero.

In addition to his legendary tales of war heroism, Carter has dashing good looks and unparalleled speed and skill on the field. As a result of his presence, both the Bulldogs and football in general prosper.

Zellweger provides romantic interest as reporter Lexie Littleton, who becomes the object of the affections of both Carter and Dodge. Unknown to Carter, Lexie has been assigned to find proof that Carter's war stories are bogus.

Meanwhile, Dodge's attempts to legitimize football start to backfire, as rules are formalized, taking away much of the improvisational antics that made the game fun for many of its players.

Real-life basis

The character Jimmy "Dodge" Connolly is based on the life of Johnny "Blood" McNally who played for multiple NFL teams from 1925 to 1938. From 1926-1927 he played for the Duluth Eskimos and later won four World Championships with the Green Bay Packers. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The film, in fact, is loosely based on the Duluth Eskimos of the 1920s and how they essentially saved the NFL. However, in the film, the team uses the name Duluth Bulldogs.

In an interview on The Late Show with David Letterman, Clooney mentioned the plot is loosely based on George Halas's signing of University of Illinois football star Harold "Red" Grange. Grange was signed to a contract with the Chicago Bears in 1925, the day after his final game at Illinois.

Cast

Production

Leatherheads began filming on February 12, 2007.[1] Filming locations mainly included locations in and around upstate South Carolina and western North Carolina around Statesville.[2] Filming wrapped in mid-May 2007. After initially being set for release in December 2007, the studio moved the release date to April 4, 2008. On March 24, George Clooney and Renée Zellweger premiered the movie in Maysville, Kentucky, birthplace of Clooney's aunt, Rosemary Clooney.

The setting of most of the film is Duluth, Minnesota, but was filmed in the Carolinas. In late March 2008, Clooney and Zellweger visited Duluth to promote the film.[3]

The piano player bent over the tack piano with eyes glued to music really didn't need to conscentrate so. He is the author of the original music in this movie, and sings the theme to tv's Monk, Randy Newman. He's the nephew of famous film composer David Newman and grand nephew of David father, the prolific movie composer Alfred Newwman.

Critical reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics. As of April 5, 2008, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 54% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 108 reviews.[4] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 57 out of 100, based on 32 reviews.[5]

Box office performance

In its opening weekend, the film grossed $12.6 million in 2,769 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking #3 at the box office behind Nim's Island[6], below the expectations of Universal Studios.[7] Viewers in their 30s and 40s were the main audience for the film.[7]

Writing credit

In 2007, a Writers' Guild of America arbitration vote decided not to award Clooney a screen credit for the film, preferring to credit only the original writers, Duncan Brantley and Rick Reiley. Clooney said that he did not want to exclude Brantley and Reiley, and agreed that they deserved the first position credit for their work, but felt that his "major overhaul" of the 17-year-old script to turn it into a screwball comedy left only two of the original scenes intact. In response to the WGA's actions, Clooney opted not to contest the decision and instead resigned his full WGA status to go "financial core" within the guild, meaning that while still technically a member, he only has limited rights. Co-producer Grant Heslov stated that he thought the guild "made the wrong decision", saying, "This script that Duncan and Rick wrote sat languid until after we finished Good Night, and Good Luck. [...] George liked Leatherheads but said it never felt quite right. He took it to Italy with him, and I remember when he called to say he thought he'd solved it. One thing that you clearly see, if you read the original, the subsequent drafts and then his draft, is that he wrote the majority of the film [...] We both thought Duncan and Rick would get first position credit, which they deserved. But this wasn't right."[8]

Trivia

The motorcycle that Clooney and Zellweger ride in Leatherheads is not a vintage V-twin motorcycle. It is one of three custom-built 36-volt electric-powered Indian replicas. The movie motorcycles were designed after a vintage 1918 Indian and fabricated in El Segundo, CA at Customs By Eddie Paul. Eddie Paul and shop manager Brian Hatano fabricated the frame, sidecar, mock engine (that conceals a high-tech DC motor inside)and then "age painted" everything to create the authentic look. Customs By Eddie Paul is known for building many Hollywood film and TV vehicles.

The "fight" song played in the final game is the fight song for Yale University, called "Boola Boola;" the same tune is used by the University of Oklahoma, but titled "Boomer Sooner".

At one point the announcer refers to a "Hail Mary" pass. The term Hail Mary, as applied to a football game, dates only back to the famous Hail Mary play in 1975.

The actor who portrayed a man attempting to commit suicide also portrayed the man's mother.

The steam train scenes were filmed at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga, TN.

A modern freight train can be seen in the background during the scoreboard close up scenes in the final game of the movie.

References

  1. ^ "Box office / business for Leatherheads", IMDb. Retrieved on 2008-03-20. 
  2. ^ "Filming locations for Leatherheads", IMDb. Retrieved on 2008-03-20. 
  3. ^ Associated Press (2008-03-24). Clooney, Zellweger promote movie in Duluth. WDIO.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-07.
  4. ^ Leatherheads Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
  5. ^ Leatherheads (2008): Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
  6. ^ Leatherheads (2008) - Weekend Box Office Results. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on 2008-04-07.
  7. ^ a b Associated Press (2008-04-06). '21' stays on top for second weekend in a row. CNN. Retrieved on 2008-04-06.
  8. ^ Michael Fleming. "WGA, Clooney at odds over credit", Variety, 2008-04-03. Retrieved on 2008-04-05. 

External links


 
 

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Copyrights:

Movies. Copyright © 2008 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Movie Guide ® , a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
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